Managers can have very different leadership styles. Some are very strict in their approach to managing their departments. If someone is late to work by just a minute they are unhappy with that person's performance. Other managers take a more relaxed approach. If someone comes into work a little late and does a little extra to catch-up they tend not to worry about it.
But you can't be both a hard-liner and a soft-liner on an issue. You can't take a hard line today on lateness and a hard-line tomorrow on lateness and then turn around on the following day and treat lateness as no big deal. If you do, people will find it very hard to understand your true position and expectations on lateness.
Of course we're not just talking about lateness. Consistency extends to quality, productivity, work completed on time, treatment of co-workers, adherence to rules, and so forth into every aspect of leading, supervising and managing employees. When we're inconsistent in how we deal with issues, our expectations become cloudy in practice. People simply do not know what we expect them to do because our expectations change frequently.
About Pelleyblog: Pelleyblog focuses on management topics for supervisors and other first-line managers. We are an extension of Dan Pelley Educational Services which conducts management development programs primarily in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, although we also serve the other New England states. Pelleyblog welcomes and looks forward to new readers from any geographic location.
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